Editing Japanese battleship Musashi (section)

{{short description|Yamato-class battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy}}
{{Other ships|List of ships named Musashi}}
{{pp|small=yes}}
{{use British English|date=June 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image = File:Japanese battleship Musashi underway in 1944 (NH 63473) (cropped).jpg
| Ship image size = 300
| Ship caption = ''Musashi'' leaving [[Brunei]] in October 1944 for the [[Battle of Leyte Gulf]], where she was sunk by air attack
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header = 
| Ship country = [[Empire of Japan|Japan]]
| Ship flag = {{Shipboxflag|Empire of Japan|naval}}
| Ship name = ''Musashi''
| Ship namesake = [[Musashi Province|Province of Musashi]]
| Ship ordered = June 1937
| Ship builder = [[Mitsubishi Heavy Industries|Mitsubishi Shipyard]], [[Nagasaki]]
| Ship laid down = 29 March 1938
| Ship launched = 1 November 1940
| Ship commissioned = 5 August 1942
| Ship fate = Sunk by American air attack during the [[Battle of Leyte Gulf]], 24 October 1944
| Ship struck = 31 August 1945<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Muir|first=Malcolm|date=October 1990|title=Rearming in a Vacuum: United States Navy Intelligence and the Japanese Capital Ship Threat, 1936–1945|journal=The Journal of Military History|volume=54|issue=4|pages=485|doi=10.2307/1986067|jstor=1986067}}</ref>
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
| Hide header = 
| Header caption = (as built)
| Ship class = {{sclass|Yamato|battleship}}
| Ship displacement = {{cvt|63000|LT|t|lk=on}} ([[Displacement (ship)#Standard displacement|standard]])
| Ship length = {{convert|263|m|ftin|abbr=on}} ([[Length overall|o/a]])
| Ship beam = {{convert|38.9|m|ftin|abbr=on}} ([[waterline]])
| Ship draft = {{convert|10.86|m|ftin|abbr=on}} ([[full load]])
| Ship power = 12 × Kanpon [[water-tube boiler]]s
{{cvt|150000|shp|kW|lk=on}}
| Ship propulsion = 4 × [[propeller]]s; 4 × [[steam turbine]]s
| Ship speed = {{convert|27.5|kn|lk=in}}
| Ship range = {{convert|7200|nmi|lk=in|abbr=on}} at {{convert|16|kn}}
| Ship complement = 2,500
| Ship sensors = *1 × [[List of Japanese World War II radar#Shipborne Radar|Type 21]] air search [[radar]]
* 1 × Type 0 [[hydrophone]] system
| Ship EW = 
| Ship armament = * 3 × triple [[46 cm/45 Type 94 naval gun|{{cvt|460|mm}} guns]]
* 4 × triple [[15.5 cm/60 3rd Year Type naval gun|{{cvt|155|mm}} guns]]
* 6 × twin [[12.7 cm/40 Type 89 naval gun|{{cvt|127|mm|0}}]] [[Dual-purpose gun|DP guns]]
* 12 × triple [[Type 96 25 mm AT/AA Gun|{{cvt|25|mm|0}}]] [[AA gun]]s
* 2 × twin [[13.2 mm Hotchkiss machine gun|{{cvt|13.2|mm}}]] [[Anti-aircraft machinegun|AA machine guns]]
| Ship armour = * [[Belt armor|Waterline belt]]: {{convert|410|mm|in|abbr=on|1}}
* [[Deck (ship)|Deck]]: {{convert|200|-|230|mm|in|abbr=on|1}}
* [[Gun turret]]s: {{convert|250|-|650|mm|in|abbr=on|1}}
* [[Barbette]]s: {{convert|380|-|560|mm|in|abbr=on}}
| Ship aircraft = 6–7 × [[floatplane]]s
| Ship aircraft facilities = 2 × [[aircraft catapult|catapults]]
| Ship notes = 
}}
|}
{{Nihongo|'''''Musashi'''''|武蔵|lead=yes||named after [[Musashi Province|the former Japanese province]]<ref>Silverstone, p. 334</ref>}} was one of four planned {{sclass|Yamato|battleship}}s{{#tag:ref|Four ships were begun, but only two were completed as battleships. The third, {{ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Shinano||2}}, was completed as an aircraft carrier and the fourth was [[ship breaking|scrapped]] before completion.<ref>Garzke & Dulin, pp. 74–80, 84</ref>|group=N}} built for the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] (IJN), beginning in the late 1930s. The ''Yamato''-class ships were the heaviest and most powerfully armed battleships ever constructed,<ref name=j9/> displacing almost {{convert|72000|LT|t}} fully loaded and armed with nine {{convert|460|mm|in|1|adj=on}} main guns. Their [[secondary armament]] consisted of four {{convert|155|mm|adj=on}} triple-[[gun turret]]s formerly used by the {{sclass|Mogami|cruiser}}s. They were equipped with six or seven [[floatplane]]s to conduct reconnaissance.

Commissioned in mid-1942, ''Musashi'' was modified to serve as the [[flagship]] of the [[Combined Fleet]], and spent the rest of the year [[Glossary of nautical terms (M-Z)#working up|working up]]. The ship was transferred to [[Chuuk Lagoon|Truk]], [[Empire of Japan|Japan's]] main wartime naval base in the [[Pacific War|South Pacific theatre]], in early 1943 and [[sortie]]d several times that year with the fleet in unsuccessful searches for [[Military history of the United States during World War II|American]] forces. She was used to transfer forces and equipment between Japan and various occupied islands several times in 1944. [[Torpedo|Torpedoed]] in early 1944 by an American [[submarine]], ''Musashi'' was forced to return to Japan for repairs, during which the navy greatly augmented her [[anti-aircraft warfare|anti-aircraft armament]]. She was present during the [[Battle of the Philippine Sea]] in June, but did not come in contact with American surface forces. During the [[Battle of Leyte Gulf]], ''Musashi'' was sunk by an estimated 19 torpedo and 17 bomb hits from American [[carrier-based aircraft]] on 24 October 1944. Over half of her crew was rescued. Her wreck was located in March 2015 by a team of researchers employed by [[Microsoft]] co-founder [[Paul Allen]].